Similes and Metaphors with Teacher Robin

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Hello, welcome to another class. I’m Robin and today I’m going to talk to you about similes and metaphors. So, I have chosen this topic because the month of February is Library Lovers’ Month. So similes and metaphors are used to make comparisons and they are most often found in literature and poetry, etc. So I think this is a good topic if you are going to do some reading this month. You can also check out a video from Jay about library vocabulary. So we have all kinds of library-related content for you in the month of February. So, similes and metaphors are literary devices. This is another way to say technique. So writing techniques, okay. There are many different kinds of literary devices used in literature. So I’m going to talk to you about these two, similes and metaphors. 

Let’s start with similes. So, similes are used to make comparisons using the words “like” and “as”. Okay, so the structure is verb plus like plus comparison phrase, or verb plus “as” plus adjective plus comparison phrase, okay? And they are used to mean “similar to” or “in the same way as”. So let’s look at some examples with both using “like” or “as”. Amy’s dog is as big as a horse. Okay, so you have this “as” adjective, “is big as” and then the comparison, a horse. So here, she’s comparing her dog, which would be a very big dog, to a horse. 

Okay, another one: The noise was as loud as a bomb. So that means that the noise was very loud. 

Okay, let’s look at an example with “like” and you may recognize this phrase: Life is like a box of chocolates. So if you have seen the movie Forrest Gump, you will have heard this quote, “Life is like a box of chocolates”. Why? Because you never know what you’re going to get when you open the box of chocolates. There are normally a variety, many different kinds of chocolates. So it’s the same as life, different situations, you don’t know what’s going to happen. So it’s like a box of chocolates. 

A couple more examples. They are different as night and day. So this is a comparison. But it’s actually saying that two people are very different because night is different from day. So they’re saying these people are very, the two people that they are comparing, are very different. They are different as night and day. 

And finally: This dress fits me like a glove. Okay, so a glove is something that fits your hand perfectly, it fits it tight. So if a dress fits you like a glove, it means that it fits you very well. 

Alright, so now, let’s move on to metaphors. This is another literary device used to make comparisons, but instead of using the words “like” and “as”, metaphors make the comparison directly. So they do this with the verb “to be”, and this can be in the past in the present, or in the future. Okay, so they make a direct comparison.

Let’s look at, excuse me, let’s look at a few examples. We have: The snow is a white blanket. Okay, so these are two things that are not alike, or they’re not the same. But we are making a comparison saying that they are the same. So if you see a place where it has snowed a lot, it may look like a white blanket because you see white everywhere. So this is why in metaphors they use this direct comparison. The snow is a white blanket. So it’s also very beautiful. This is why we find it a lot in literature and poetry because these phrases, these sentences are very nice, very beautiful.

Okay, another example is: His eyes were ice when he looked at her. Okay, that means he was very angry. He was very cold. So they are comparing this man, this person’s eyes to ice. 

Okay. A couple more examples. Time is money. This is a saying that many people say, so they’re comparing time to money because your time has value just like money has value.

And finally, this is one of my favorite ones. Age is a state of mind. So a state of mind is just something that you think. So really, it doesn’t matter what your age is, it’s only how you feel. Okay, so this is a wonderful metaphor, age is a state of mind. 

So I hope that now, this explanation has helped you understand the difference between similes and metaphors. And hopefully you can recognize some of these when you read, the next time you read a book or a poem, you will recognize some of these examples. So now, I want you to practice by writing examples in the comments. So if you can think of a simile or a metaphor, there are an infinite number of examples, then write some in the comments and I look forward to reading them. So thank you for joining me this week. I hope you enjoyed the topic and I will see you next time. Take care. Bye!